Lara Schwarz – Sciblogshttps://sciblogs.co.nz
SciblogsSat, 02 Aug 2014 11:51:18 +0000en-US
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.3https://sciblogs.co.nz/app/uploads/2019/04/cropped-SciBlogsFBProfile-32x32.jpgLara Schwarz – Sciblogshttps://sciblogs.co.nz
3232Ebola outbreak – updates and linkshttps://sciblogs.co.nz/infectious-thoughts/2014/08/03/ebola-outbreak-updates-and-links/
https://sciblogs.co.nz/infectious-thoughts/2014/08/03/ebola-outbreak-updates-and-links/#commentsSat, 02 Aug 2014 11:51:18 +0000https://sciblogs.co.nz/infectious-thoughts/?p=2224As the Ebola outbreak worsens, the WHO has announced a US$100 million response plan to help bring the outbreak under control by scaling up control measures and helping neighbouring at-risk countries prepare for any cases.

According to the latest WHO update, between 24 and 27 July, a total of 122 new cases of Ebola and 57 deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. This brings the number of cases up to 1323 with 729 deaths. Sadly, it would seem that healthcare workers are still becoming infected, with reports that Sierra Leone’s top Ebola doctor has died.

Ian Mackay is charting all the data from the WHO’s Ebola updates while the UK’s Channel 4 have made a clicable map of the outbreak here.

A scary development has been the death of a man in Nigeria – he arrived in Lagos by air via Lomé, Togo, and Accra, Ghana. The man was symptomatic when he arrived in Nigeria which means he would have been infectious at least on his last flight. Officials are now trying to trace all he may have come into contact with on his travels. According to the report, 59 contacts (15 from among the airport staff and 44 from the hospital) have been identified so far.

The fact the man was American, of Liberian decent, and due to return to his family in Minnesota has now put the Ebola outbreak firmly on the radar of the US press. There are also now reports that two infected US aid workers are going to be evacuated from Liberia for treatment in Atlanta.

There is a good article here looking at how easily infectious diseases spread on planes. The answer from simulations seems to be ‘not very’, suggesting only those in the few rows around the infected person are at risk. As Ebola is spread through bodily secretions, this would also mean the potential for transmission by touching surfaces also touched by someone infectious.

And finally, Daniel Bausch and Lara Schwarz speculate on why Guinea and why now in a paper just published in the open access journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. In an nutshell, it’s likely to be due to the movement of bats and poverty driving people further into remote areas looking for resources to survive. Add to that porous borders and impoverished and neglected healthcare systems and you get an outbreak of this magnitude.